Only People Over 50 Can Name All of These
A quick nostalgia quiz: can you name these everyday objects that were common in American homes decades ago?
Some everyday objects were once so common that nobody gave them a second thought. Today, many younger people would have no idea what they are, let alone how to use them. If you grew up before the 1990s, you probably used every one of these.
Read each clue, take a guess, and then check the answer below it. Count how many you get right, and see how you score at the end.
01A Pencil and a Cassette Tape
Clue: Why would anyone stick a pencil into a cassette? Answer: To rewind or tighten the tape by hand. Turning the pencil in one of the reels saved batteries in a portable player and helped fix tape that had come loose. Cassettes were the main way many people played and recorded music through the 1980s.
02The Rotary Dial
Clue: You put a finger in a hole and turned. Answer: A rotary telephone dial. Each digit was dialed by turning the wheel to a metal stop and letting it spin back. Numbers with lots of nines and zeros took noticeably longer to dial.
Six out of six means you are a true expert on the good old days.
03The Metal Ice Cube Tray With a Lever
Clue: You pulled a handle and it cracked. Answer: An aluminum ice cube tray. Lifting the lever loosened the cubes from a metal grid. They were common in the mid-1900s before flexible plastic trays and automatic ice makers took over.
04The View-Master
Clue: You looked through it and clicked a lever. Answer: A View-Master. Introduced in 1939, it showed 3D pictures from cardboard reels with seven image pairs. Generations of kids used it to see cartoons, national parks, and faraway cities.
05The Church Key
Clue: It was not for a church, and it did not open a door. Answer: A flat metal can opener with a pointed end. Before pull-tab cans became common in the 1960s, people punched triangular holes in the tops of drink cans with one.
06Rabbit Ears
Clue: Two metal rods on top of the TV. Answer: An indoor TV antenna. Families adjusted the rods, sometimes with foil on the tips, to get a clearer picture on broadcast channels.
How did you do? Six out of six means you are a true expert on the good old days. Four or five is still very respectable. Fewer than that, and it may be time to ask your parents or grandparents for a guided tour of the attic.
